Standard-Freeholder year in review: December 2018

Mayor Bernadette Clement, left, just moment after city clerk Manon Levesque placed the chain of office on her shoulders for the first time on Monday December 3, 2018 in Cornwall, Ont. Alan S. Hale/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia NetworkAlan S. Hale / Alan S. Hale/Standard-Freeholder

Though it comes at the end of our calendar year, this December was about political renewal in council chambers across the region.

The month started off with each council’s inaugural meetings, as members took their oaths of office and seven mayors and a warden had the opportunity to speak of their hopes for the coming term.

Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement’s address touched on the need for partnership and community; for neighbours to improve their working relationships to the benefit of all.

“Let me assure the citizens of Cornwall that you have elected a good council… I know they want to do the very best, and I can on their behalf tell you that we expect you to hold us to a high standard,” Clement said. “So let’s roll up our sleeves and get started. Our history is waiting.”

The new elevated water storage tower in the background, on a main road into Maxville. Photo on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, in Maxville, Ont. Todd Hambleton/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia NetworkTodd Hambleton /
Todd Hambleton/Standard-Freeholder

A week later it was SDG Warden Jamie MacDonald’s turn at the inaugural meeting podium. It saw a return of the the congeniality and humour MacDonald brought to the position when he was warden for a year in the prior term, with a sharp commentary on SDG’s role in defending rural schools.

“We need to fight for our children to be educated in our community,” MacDonald said. “Change needs to happen… four school boards (are) spending tax dollars advertising and competing for children to come to several half-empty schools in the same community.”

Voters in Akwesasne – the minority that cast ballots – also had their voices heard on two important issues.

First came the vote to approve the Government of Canada’s settlement offer on the Dundee specific land claim. It required a threshold of 25 per cent of members voting for the result to be valid. When the ballots were tallied on Dec. 8, the turnout was 28 per cent, with 80 per cent of ballots cast saying yes to accepting the settlement.

Then right before Christmas, 200 Akwesasne voters on Cornwall Island re-elected Dennis Chaussi as district chief. Chaussi had been forced to resign earlier in 2018 after a petition to remove him from office was validated, vacating his council seat and forcing a byelection.

Catholics of Alexandria-Cornwall welcomed a new auxiliary bishop, Rev. Guy Desrochers, who will assist Bishop Terrence Prendergast in administering the diocese. Desrochers will be ordained on Feb. 22 at St. Finnan’s Cathedral in Alexandria.

They closed out the month in grief, saying goodbye to Emeritus Bishop Eugene Phillip LaRocque, who died in Windsor on Dec. 16. A funeral service was held for LaRocque at the Nativity Co-Cathedral in Cornwall on Dec. 19.

In the sporting world, the Cornwall Colts had a mostly positive month, as the players on the bench started gelling and having an impact on the scoresheet. Notably, Tristan Poissant told the Standard-Freeholder his decision to transfer to the Colts and play closer to home had been a good one— one well-received by the team too, given how often his name peppers the scoresheet.

Another Colts player highlighted for his play was goaltender Michael Carr. While not breaking any league records, Carr remained the only goalie in the league to have played in every one of his team’s games. He often made the difference on the scoresheet too, blocking more shots than the goaltender in the opposite net.